Akwa Ibom State is located in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. The coastal plain sand aquifer, which underlies the area, is the major source of potable water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. The incre...Akwa Ibom State is located in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. The coastal plain sand aquifer, which underlies the area, is the major source of potable water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. The increase in demand for water has led to an increased exploitation of the aquifer in the last few years. Hence it is essential to quantify the amount of exploitable water in the aquifer. To achieve this goal, a regional numerical groundwater flow model using MODFLOW was calibrated under steady-state conditions to determine the aquifer’s hydraulic conductivity (K) and the recharge characteristics of the area. The hydraulic conductivity and recharge values from the pilot points calibration ranged from 1 to 75 m/d and 5.89 × 10-6 m3/d to1.23 × 10-4 m3/d. The calculations of the model showed that the average recharge rate amounts 0.40l/s/km2 or 12.60 mm/year. The estimated recharge suggests a high groundwater potential for the area. This is the first time that such a study has been carried out in the area, and it will serve as an important basis for future groundwater management and simulation of transient groundwater flow modeling in Akwa Ibom State.展开更多
Background: Efforts to combat tuberculosis in Nigeria focus on evaluation of strategies for treatment and prevention, with little attention paid to the impact of the burden of illness and its therapy on the HRQoL of T...Background: Efforts to combat tuberculosis in Nigeria focus on evaluation of strategies for treatment and prevention, with little attention paid to the impact of the burden of illness and its therapy on the HRQoL of TB patients. This study evaluated the quality of life (QoL) of TB patients in relation to their financial, psychological and social well-being. Method: In 2011, following an active case finding for TB in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, a structured questionnaire for evaluating HRQoL was distributed to TB patients who had been on treatment in four DOTs centres of the state for at least three months. The questions were to elicit responses that conveyed the respondents’ perspective of the disease. One hundred and eight TB patients (54 males and 54 females) aged 15 - 80 years were studied. Results: Negative emotions including fear, frustration and worry characterized the reactions of all subjects following news of their diagnosis with TB. However, following treatment, 62% of subjects expressed high expectation of being cured. Inability to continue functioning in their roles at home or as heads of households was recorded in 48.1% (52/108) and 59% (23/39) of respondents respectively and contributed to the negative emotions expressed above. Lack of basic supplies such as food and finances to meet personal and family needs constituted the most important socio-economic challenges. Socio-economic status of respondents revealed that 61% had no regular means of income with at least 94% earning less than $50 (8000 naira) a month. Subsistent farmers and petty traders constituted more than 66% of the respondents: 98% obtained less than or equivalent of high school education. Socially, all health workers and 87% of family members were sympathetic and supportive compared to friends, with 42% exhibiting stigmatization. The most frequent forms of support from family members were financial (25%) and provision of food (37%). Up to 28% were regularly prompted by family to take their medication. Conclusion: In the midst of obvious socio-economic challenges confronting TB patients in this study, the initial negative emotions declined following the supportive roles of mainly health care workers and family members. Patients were optimistic of achieving cure at the end of the treatment.展开更多
Background: Rubella is an infectious disease of public health importance because infection ac-quired during early pregnancy often results in foetal abnormalities that are classified as con-genital rubella syndrome (CR...Background: Rubella is an infectious disease of public health importance because infection ac-quired during early pregnancy often results in foetal abnormalities that are classified as con-genital rubella syndrome (CRS). The burden of rubella infection in most developing countries is however not well documented because of lim-ited epidemiological data. Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, 781individuals with febrile rash illness seen in clinics in Akwa Ibom State were screened for rubella specific IgM antibodies using the ELISA technique. Statistical analysis was done using Graph prime version 5.3 statis-tical package at 95% confidence interval. The level of significance was established at P = 0.05 using Fisher’s exact two-tailed values. Results: Of 781 individuals screened for rubella specific IgM antibodies, 94 (12%) were found to be posi-tive. Incidence of 8.7% recorded in 2006 gradu-ally rose to 9.3% in 2007, 11.6% in 2008 and 14.3% in 2009. Those in the reproductive age group (> 16 years) were most affected (51.7%). However, this was not statistically significant (P = 0.228). Females (17.4%) were more suscepti-ble than males (6.2%) (P < 0.0001) an rural dwellers (12.8%) more susceptible than urban dwellers (10.5%) (P = 0.416). Conclusion: The study shows that the incidence of rubella in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria is high. The lowest incidence was however found among individu-als below the reproductive age. Thus, the find-ings of this study can be used by policy makers to model the introduction of routine rubella vaccination into the country’ Expanded Program on Immunization Schedule (EPI).展开更多
This work sought and identified the different types of land covers;detected the changes in land cover and examined the driving forces of such changes in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. S...This work sought and identified the different types of land covers;detected the changes in land cover and examined the driving forces of such changes in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Satellite images data of the area for 1986 and 2006 were collected for analysis. Household level social survey was conducted to generate data on the socio-economic variables. The images were subjected to principal component analysis to reduce and compress the data while the supervised image classification algorithm was applied to process the images into different land cover classes. The change detection algorithm in Erdas imagines was applied to measure and calculate the land cover change of the area. The result of the social survey revealed that 58% of the occupation was land based while in terms of yearly income, 65 percent earned less than $300 (#48000). The change detection carried out revealed an increase in areas of secondary forest while bush fallow recorded a reduction up to 34.02 hectares (56.55%) within the study period. Socio-economic variables of poor income and mode of land preparation for farming were the major drivers of change. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the slash and burn mode of land preparation be discouraged.展开更多
文摘Akwa Ibom State is located in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. The coastal plain sand aquifer, which underlies the area, is the major source of potable water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. The increase in demand for water has led to an increased exploitation of the aquifer in the last few years. Hence it is essential to quantify the amount of exploitable water in the aquifer. To achieve this goal, a regional numerical groundwater flow model using MODFLOW was calibrated under steady-state conditions to determine the aquifer’s hydraulic conductivity (K) and the recharge characteristics of the area. The hydraulic conductivity and recharge values from the pilot points calibration ranged from 1 to 75 m/d and 5.89 × 10-6 m3/d to1.23 × 10-4 m3/d. The calculations of the model showed that the average recharge rate amounts 0.40l/s/km2 or 12.60 mm/year. The estimated recharge suggests a high groundwater potential for the area. This is the first time that such a study has been carried out in the area, and it will serve as an important basis for future groundwater management and simulation of transient groundwater flow modeling in Akwa Ibom State.
文摘Background: Efforts to combat tuberculosis in Nigeria focus on evaluation of strategies for treatment and prevention, with little attention paid to the impact of the burden of illness and its therapy on the HRQoL of TB patients. This study evaluated the quality of life (QoL) of TB patients in relation to their financial, psychological and social well-being. Method: In 2011, following an active case finding for TB in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, a structured questionnaire for evaluating HRQoL was distributed to TB patients who had been on treatment in four DOTs centres of the state for at least three months. The questions were to elicit responses that conveyed the respondents’ perspective of the disease. One hundred and eight TB patients (54 males and 54 females) aged 15 - 80 years were studied. Results: Negative emotions including fear, frustration and worry characterized the reactions of all subjects following news of their diagnosis with TB. However, following treatment, 62% of subjects expressed high expectation of being cured. Inability to continue functioning in their roles at home or as heads of households was recorded in 48.1% (52/108) and 59% (23/39) of respondents respectively and contributed to the negative emotions expressed above. Lack of basic supplies such as food and finances to meet personal and family needs constituted the most important socio-economic challenges. Socio-economic status of respondents revealed that 61% had no regular means of income with at least 94% earning less than $50 (8000 naira) a month. Subsistent farmers and petty traders constituted more than 66% of the respondents: 98% obtained less than or equivalent of high school education. Socially, all health workers and 87% of family members were sympathetic and supportive compared to friends, with 42% exhibiting stigmatization. The most frequent forms of support from family members were financial (25%) and provision of food (37%). Up to 28% were regularly prompted by family to take their medication. Conclusion: In the midst of obvious socio-economic challenges confronting TB patients in this study, the initial negative emotions declined following the supportive roles of mainly health care workers and family members. Patients were optimistic of achieving cure at the end of the treatment.
文摘Background: Rubella is an infectious disease of public health importance because infection ac-quired during early pregnancy often results in foetal abnormalities that are classified as con-genital rubella syndrome (CRS). The burden of rubella infection in most developing countries is however not well documented because of lim-ited epidemiological data. Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, 781individuals with febrile rash illness seen in clinics in Akwa Ibom State were screened for rubella specific IgM antibodies using the ELISA technique. Statistical analysis was done using Graph prime version 5.3 statis-tical package at 95% confidence interval. The level of significance was established at P = 0.05 using Fisher’s exact two-tailed values. Results: Of 781 individuals screened for rubella specific IgM antibodies, 94 (12%) were found to be posi-tive. Incidence of 8.7% recorded in 2006 gradu-ally rose to 9.3% in 2007, 11.6% in 2008 and 14.3% in 2009. Those in the reproductive age group (> 16 years) were most affected (51.7%). However, this was not statistically significant (P = 0.228). Females (17.4%) were more suscepti-ble than males (6.2%) (P < 0.0001) an rural dwellers (12.8%) more susceptible than urban dwellers (10.5%) (P = 0.416). Conclusion: The study shows that the incidence of rubella in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria is high. The lowest incidence was however found among individu-als below the reproductive age. Thus, the find-ings of this study can be used by policy makers to model the introduction of routine rubella vaccination into the country’ Expanded Program on Immunization Schedule (EPI).
文摘This work sought and identified the different types of land covers;detected the changes in land cover and examined the driving forces of such changes in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Satellite images data of the area for 1986 and 2006 were collected for analysis. Household level social survey was conducted to generate data on the socio-economic variables. The images were subjected to principal component analysis to reduce and compress the data while the supervised image classification algorithm was applied to process the images into different land cover classes. The change detection algorithm in Erdas imagines was applied to measure and calculate the land cover change of the area. The result of the social survey revealed that 58% of the occupation was land based while in terms of yearly income, 65 percent earned less than $300 (#48000). The change detection carried out revealed an increase in areas of secondary forest while bush fallow recorded a reduction up to 34.02 hectares (56.55%) within the study period. Socio-economic variables of poor income and mode of land preparation for farming were the major drivers of change. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the slash and burn mode of land preparation be discouraged.
